USB ports are one of the conventional components of any system that lets the user connect printers, cameras, flash drivers, and other peripherals easily. The USB ports have also been a great help, but they aren’t left alone with issues and errors.
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Fixes for USB Ports Not Working on Laptop Issue
Recently, a lot of laptop users have stated that the USB ports are not working in their system. Now, this issue can be due to several reasons, including old or corrupt drivers or some wrong setting in your system. Hence to mark out any such possibility and let your Laptop recognize the USB ports, consider following the fixes given in the article below:
FIX 1: Restart your Laptop:
The first troubleshooting that will possibly resolve the “USB Ports Not Working on Laptop” issue is by restarting your Laptop. Simply plug out the USB device, wait for a couple of minutes, restart your Laptop and then again plug in the USB device. Now check whether your Laptop recognizes the USB port or not.
FIX 2: Remove your laptop battery:
As per a lot of suffered users, removing their laptop battery has helped them in resolving the “USB Ports Not Working on Laptop” issue. Simply remove your Laptop’s battery and then press and hold the power button for nearly 30 seconds to 1 minute. Moreover, you can also remove the battery and leave the Laptop turned off for hours or the entire night. Doing this will possibly discharge the capacitors completely. Further, once you will again attach the battery and reuse your Laptop, your system will be able to recognize the USB.
FIX 3: Adjust Power Management:
A lot of time, Windows automatically switches off the USB controllers as when they are not in use to save some power. Further, when required, it switches the controllers ON back again. However, sometimes Windows fail to do so, and it is when your Laptop does not recognize the USB. Here the best resolve is to adjust the power management. For doing so, follow the steps given below:
- Firstly, launch the RUN dialogue box by pressing Windows key + R altogether.
- Now inside the empty text space, type devmgmt.msc and then click on OK. It will launch the Device Manager window on your screen.
- Now on the Device Manager window, expand the option Universal Serial Bus controllers, locate and right-click over the USB Root Hub option from the list and then select Properties from its sub-menu.
- Inside the Properties window, navigate to the Power Management tab from the vertical menu and then uncheck the tick box located before the option Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
- Now click on OK.
- Further, repeat the 3rd, 4th, and 5th step for all the USB Root Hub entries under the Universal Serial Bus controller’s option.
- Once done, it will possibly resolve the issue, and your Laptop will now recognize the USB drive.
FIX 4: Disable USB Selective Suspend:
The USB Selective Suspension feature prevents your system from consuming too much power by setting a fixed USB ports to a low power level. In such a case, the best resolve is to disable the USB Selective Suspend. For doing so, follow the steps given below:
- Firstly, navigate to the desktop search bar, type choose a power plan and then select the option Choose a power plan.
- Now on the Power Options window, click on the Change plan settings (the one right next to the plan option you’re having now).
- Further, click on Change advanced power settings and then double click on USB settings -> USB selective suspend setting. (Laptop users, click On battery and then select the option Disabled from the drop-down menu).
- Now select the option Enabled, and it will expand the drop-down menu. Here select the option Disabled and then click on Apply -> OK.
- Once done, the USB ports will resume working normally now.
FIX 5: Reinstall USB drivers:
Another solution that will help you in resolving the said issue is reinstalling the USB drivers. For doing so, follow the steps given below:
- Firstly, launch the RUN dialogue box by pressing Windows + R altogether.
- Now inside the empty text space, type devmgmt.msc and then click on OK. It will launch the Device Manager window on your screen.
- Now on the Device Manager window, expand the option Universal Serial Bus controllers, locate and right-click over the USB Root Hub option from the list, and then select Uninstall device from the sub-menu.
- Repeat the above step for all the USB Root Hub entries under the Universal Serial Bus controllers section.
- Once done, restart your Laptop. During the restart process, your system will automatically reinstall the missing USB driver.
FIX 6: Update USB drivers:
If none of the above-mentioned fixes works for you, then the last resort is to update the USB drivers. At times, a wrong or outdated USB driver might keep the USB ports from working properly, and thus you would encounter the discussed issue. However, after updating the USB drivers, the issue will possibly get resolved.
For doing so,
- Follow the similar steps from the FIX 5, and instead of selecting Uninstall device, select the option Update Driver. Further, follow the on-screen instructions.
Or
- In case you do not wish to go through a lengthy process, you can also use dedicated driver updating tools available online.
These were all the possible fixes for the “USB Ports Not Working on Laptop” issue. Consider following them in the same sequence and check which of them helps to resolve the issue in your case.
However, if none of them works for you, then try connecting your device to another USB port and check whether it is working or not. If yes, then the problematic port might be broken or corrupt physically. In such a case, connect with a service expert. After reading this article, if you have any queries or feedback, please write down the comment in the below comment box.